Operator bridging unit for metal window screens



9, 1958 R. M. WINNAN E1- AL 2,848,043

OPERATOR BRIDGING UNIT FOR METAL WINDOW SCREENS Filed April 13, 1956 2Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I

r' l Mb FIG. 3

INVENTORJ' BURTON W.SAXTAN RUSSELL M. WINNAN Aug! 1958 R. M. WINNAN ETAL 2,843,043

OPERATOR BRIDGING UNIT FOR METAL WINDOW SCREENS Filed' April 13. 1956 2Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.4.

INVENTORS BURTON W SAXTAN RUSSELL M WINNAN the frame.

United States Patent OPERATOR BRIDGING UNIT FOR METAL WINDOW SCREENSRussell M. Winnan, Miami, and Burton W. Saxtan, Miami Springs, Fla,assignors to American Screen Products Company, Miami, Fla, a corporationof Florida Application April 13, 1956, Serial No. 578,014

4 Claims. (Cl. 160-95) This invention relates to window screens and moreparticularly to an operator bridging unit for screens of the metal frametype.

Heretofore, it has been necessary, where wood frame screens were usedwith awning type windows, to notch the bottom rail in a fashion to fitover the window operator and its housing. It is impractical to so modifythe slender frame of metal screens, because of weakening the bottomrail. An increase in the size of the rail to offset the weaknessresulting from a notch, defeats the major objective of a metal framescreen, which is to admit more light and air, by virtue of its slenderrail design, than does a wood frame screen. If an appendage such as anangle or a channel is added to one of the rails of a typical metal framescreen, and such appendage only to be notched in whatever mannerrequired to fit over the control-bar housing, thus avoiding impairmentof the original inherent strength of the metal frame screen, the screento which such appendage has been attached presents a number ofdisadvantages with respect to a screen incorporating the bridge insert.By virtue of its appendage, the screen to which it is attached admitsless light and air than does a screen with a bridge insert. Anappendage, such as an angle or channel, which incorporates a notchpresents greater possibility of injury when being handled than does thesolid bridge insert. From the standpoint of production a single framesection design is used when making a screen which incorporates a bridgeinsert; as opposed to the necessity of producing and attaching anappendage, such as an angle or channel, in the case of screens usingsuch appendage, or the necessity of providing and combining framesections of different design in cases where such screens incorporate theappendage in the design of the rail to which a separate angle or channelappendage might normally be attached.

Therefore, a primary object of the present invention is the provision ofa rigid bridge insert including an appropriately arched portionaccommodating the arm and housing of a window operator and having itsends force fitted into adjacent sections of a tubular rail. Adistinctive feature of the invention is that it makes possible the useof the same type frame on all sides of the screen on an awning window aswould be used, for example, on a casement window.

Another object of the invention is to provide a rigid one-piece inserthaving arms at either side of the arched body portion to fit into therelated ends of tubular screen frame sections, said arms formed at aslightly upward pitch to conform to the bow normally incorporated inThis bow, or bend, in the frame member has a definite tendency toreassert itself after the tubular frame is forced into a straight lineto receive the screen cloth. As a result, the frame members of thescreen exert constant pull on the cloth and keep it taut.

A further object is to provide an operator housing bridging unit whichprovides for the use of a continuous spline to assure a firm grip on thescreen cloth at all points along the frame section and the bridge.

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Other objects are, no loss in light or air as compared with thescreening of other types of windows; uniformity of appearance of screenson all types of windows in a given room or a given house; the screenitself, viewed separately, presents a pleasant, balanced unit; the notchin the screen is smooth and safe to handle; the hollow screen frame iscompletely sealed at all points; production is simplified andstandardized in that the screen and the cloth are of the same size for agiven awning window, whether it be manually operated or push-baroperated; complicated designs of push-bar housings may be easily matchedin every detail in the cast insert as opposed to a stamping or a stampedcutout; and finally, the insert actually increases the strength of thescreen frame at the notch.

A preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a detail cross section showing the application of theinvention.

Fig. 2 is a detail elevation looking at the inner or room side of thescreen.

Fig. 3 is a view like Fig. 2 showing the outer side of the screen withthe spline in the curved groove of the bridge body.

Fig. 4 is a room side elevation of the bridge unit detached from thescreen.

Fig. 5 is an outer side elevation of the detached unit shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is an end elevation of the unit.

Fig. 7 is a cross section taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is a cross sectional view taken on line 88 of Fig-2.

Similar references designate similar parts in the several views.

As will be seen from Figs. 1 and 2, the window W is connected by anoperator 0 in the form of a push-rod slidable in the housing H, thelatter being fitted within the arched body portion of the operatorbridging unit B in the bottom rail R of the screen S.

The bridging unit B is preferably cast in one piece and includes amedial body 1 having at its top side an arched spline receiving groove 2formed by spaced channel flanges 3-4 projecting laterally from the bodyat the side of the unit opposite the room side, and also. having at itslower side the compound recess 56 opening at the bottom edge of the railand conforming generally with the cross-sectional profile of theoperator housing. Obviously, the invention would be the same if therecess was curved or of any other profile so long as it accommodated theoperator and its housing.

The outer upper edge of the arched body is inset as indicated at 7 tomake the outer face of the body flush with the spline receiving headportion of the tubular screen frame when the bridge unit is in place.

Each end of the body 1 is formed with laterally extending arms 8, whichmay be conveniently made of channel formation, and have an upstandingvertical flange 9. The channel formation of the arms serves a definitepurpose in providing a friction grip against the faces of the screenframe section, as shown in Fig. 8. Moreover, this channel formationoffers definite torque resistance to the entire bottom rail of thescreen. As will be seen from the drawing, the upstanding flange 9 mateswith a groove of the section and is of particular importance because itlends strength to both the force fit of the insert and to the resistanceof the entire lower rail assembly to distortion. The arms 8-8 are ofless height and less width than the body to compensate for the thicknessof the metal in the rail sections F-F, and, where they join the body,shoulders 8 are provided against which the inner ends of the sectionsabut. These arms telescope within the tubular portions of the relatedrail sections, and the upstanding flange 9 fits into the related grooveof the tubular section.

The arms 8 are, as a whole, tilted upwardly at'their outer ends, thatis, the arms tilt upwardly with respect to any horizontal plane throughthe medial body when positioned as shown in Fig. 4 or 5. The degree oftilt conforms with the bow or bend put in the frame member for keepingthe screen cloth taut.

When the bottom rail of the screen is made up, the arms 8 are insertedin the adjacent inner ends of the rail and the ends of the curved splinegroove 2 align with the spline groove of the rail. After the screencloth is in place, the spline is pushed or pressed into thecommunicating grooves in the frame sections and body to lock the screencloth in place. The screen is then ready for installation in a window,and the bridge unit will take care of the operator housing. Although thebridge is usually located midway of the bottom rail of the screen, itwill, of course, be understood that it may be shifted toward either sideof the center, if the installation requires, and, while the bridge isdescribed as being in the bottom rail, it could be placed in a side railor the top rail for certain types of casement windows.

The design of the bridge insert provides for the use of a continuousspline 10 to assure a firm grip of the screen cloth at all points.Moreover, the curved spline groove 2 in the body is important, in therespect that when the continuous spline 10 is fitted to the rail, thecurved portion augments the frictional lock between the unit and thesections F and F to prevent the separation of the rail sections whichreceive the arms 8.

As opposed to a screen using an appendage or attachment at the cutout, ascreen incorporating the bridge insert set forth herein ofiersproduction advantages because such screen can be made from a singletubular section, the basic shape of the section used at the bottom railbeing the same as that used on all other rails of the screen. When anappendage or attachment is added to the bottom rail, such rail, ineffect, becomes a different shape, by virtue of such appendage, than theremaining rails common to the sides and top of the screen.

From the foregoing it will now be seen that the present bridging unitfulfills the objectives heretofore set forth. That is to say, a bridgingunit of the type set forth herein not only provides uniformity ofappearance of screen frames on all types of windows and does notdiminish the light or area of the screen, while at the same timeavoiding the unbalanced appearance resulting from using a separate angleon the rail and having a notch to clear the operator. As will be readilyunderstood a notched angle, channel, or other member incorporating astamped notch would of necessity have thin sharp edges which constitutea hazard in handling. Moreover because of the snug force fit of the arms8 in the related frame sections the rail having the operator will becompletely sealed at all points whereas in notching a structural shapeit is difficult to maintain adequate sealing between the screen and thewindow frame.

We claim:

1. A metal frame screen comprising tubular rails at least one of whichincludes separate alined sections, and an operator bridging unitincluding a medially arched body having a plane outer face and a splinereceiving groove at the inner face thereof, arms projecting from eachend of the body for insertion into related ends of said tubularsections, and a flange at the upper edge of each arm forming acontinuation of the bottom of the spline groove and force fitted into amating slot on the section to resist distortion of the rail.

2. A metal frame screen comprising tubular rails at least one of whichincludes separate alined sections, and an operator bridging unitincluding a medially arched body having a plane outer face and a splinereceiving groove at the inner face thereof, arms projecting from eachend of the body for snug insertion into related ends of said tubularsections, said arms being of less vertical height and horizontal widththan the body where they join therewith to provide shoulders againstwhich the ends of the telescoped sections abut, anda flange at the upperedge of each arm forming a continuation of the bottom of the splinegroove for entering a mating slot on the section.

3. An operator bridging unit for metal window screens having tubularmetal frame sections constituting a rail thereof, comprising, a mediallyarched body having a spline-receiving groove in one face thereof, armsprojecting from each end of the body for insertion into related ends ofsaid tubular sections, and a finage at the upper edge of each armforming a continuation of the bottom of the spline groove.

4. An operator bridging unit for metal window screens having tubularframe sections constituting a rail thereof, said unit enabling thescreen in which it is embodied to be inserted in and removed from awindow frame without dismantling the unit or the operator, said unitcomprising, a one-piece body medially of greater vertical depth than thedepth of said screen frame sections and having an unobstructed operatorhousing accommodating recess opening along an edge thereof and at bothsides of the body, arms extending from opposite ends of the body in aplane below the top of said body and adapted to enter related hollowscreen sections and means on the body and arms for receiving acontinuous spline element to attach the screen cloth to the bridgingunit.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS300,776 Henry June 24, 1884 1,171,952 Higgin Feb. 15, 1916 1,668,259Becker May 1, 1928 1,975,739 Ward Oct. 2, 1934 2,352,029 Soule June 20,1944 2,396,560 Dion Mar. 12, 1946

